What is the pass mark for the PM&DC NRE?

Under the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council's National Registration Examination (Medical): Standard, Structure and Syllabus 2024 — the registration exam for Pakistani medical graduates — a candidate must pass the theory (MCQs) component and the Clinical Skills Examination (CSE) separately. The minimum pass percentage is 60% in the theory component and 60% in the CSE, including the mandatory stations. For the examination and registration steps by home country, see the Licensing exams page on this site.

Passing criteria (Section II)

Section II of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council's National Registration Examination (Medical): Standard, Structure and Syllabus 2024 states the following.

• A candidate must pass both the theory and the CSE components separately to be declared successful in the NRE.
• The minimum pass percentage is 60% in the theory (MCQs) component and 60% in the CSE, including the mandatory stations.
• Angoff's method is also adopted for standardisation of the NRE.
• There is no negative marking in either component of the NRE.
• The theory component has 200 MCQs, with 70% from clinical sciences disciplines and 30% from basic sciences disciplines. Only candidates qualifying in the theory component are eligible for the CSE.

Mandatory stations in the CSE (Section II)

The CSE has three mandatory stations. A candidate must clear all three mandatory stations to be declared to pass the CSE. If a candidate obtains an aggregate of 60% or above in the CSE yet fails even one mandatory station, the candidate is declared to fail in the entire CSE.

CSE format and final pass percentage (Section VII)

Section VII states that the CSE format is similar to an Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). The pass percentage is fixed at 60% for the final result of the CSE.

The CSE lasts approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes, including the initial briefing, and consists of 20 stations. Each station is assigned 8 minutes, with 2 minutes for changeover.

The distribution of disciplines across the 20 stations is:

Discipline	Number of stations
Medicine and Allied	7
Surgery and Allied	7
Obstetrics & Gynaecology	2
Paediatrics	2
Ophthalmology (Eye)	1
Otorhinolaryngology (ENT)	1
Total	20

Changes PM&DC may make (Section VII)

Section VII states that the details about the content and conduct of the CSE — its duration, number of stations and pass percentage — remain subject to change at the discretion of PM&DC. Any such change must be notified and displayed on the PM&DC website at least 12 weeks before the date of commencement of the CSE. The pass marks above are those of the 2024 standard, so candidates should read the PM&DC notice for the sitting they will take.

Re-appearing after a CSE failure (Section II)

A candidate who passes the theory component but fails the CSE must re-appear in the CSE component only and re-register for the CSE only. If a candidate fails in three consecutive attempts of the CSE, the candidate must appear in both the theory and CSE components on the fourth attempt. After every three failed attempts at the CSE, the candidate must sit the entire NRE.

Validity of the theory pass (Section II)

Passing the theory component remains valid for five years from the date of passing it. The CSE must be passed within five years of passing the theory component.

Sources

• National Registration Examination (Medical): Standard, Structure and Syllabus 2024 — Pakistan Medical & Dental Council

Checked 11 October 2026.

This page is an unofficial summary, is not legal or professional-licensing advice, is not published by the bodies named, promises no admission, examination or registration outcome, and the official text and the regulator's own instructions prevail if they differ.